[MAG] The Tribune Vol.3 : DF Issue 6

[Lucifa]

..The Tribune : Vol. 3 : DF Issue 6..


I. Introduction
II. Weekly Poll
III. Welcome To Worth
IV. Lucifa Breaks Down DF:WK6
V. Loose Cypher
VI. Information Central
VII. Divisional Ranks & Match-Ups
VIII. Lucifa Predicts DF:WK7
IX. Mod Balls
X. … Of The Week
XI. Competitor Profile
XII. Outroduction

I. Introduction

II. Weekly Poll

Last week’s poll of “Are you feeling the Divisional Format?” was won by “Yes”: 9-0

Personal Opinion: I’m glad this was a resounding victory in favour of “Yes” as a lot of effort has been put in to make it work. You all know that moderators aren’t paid or benefit in any way from doing this ‘job’. We do it because we enjoy this environment and are willing to put our time in to keeping it going. There have been teething issues but things are chugging along now and it’s good to see that people are enjoying the RSTL in it’s current form.

This week’s (Multiple Choice) poll asks: “Which Topic Category Do You Prefer?”


A: Titles
B: Quotes
C: Scenarios
D: Images

[Lucifa]

III. Welcome To Worth

I’m not going to photoshop the spreadsheet this week but I would still like to keep this segment running. However I just want to talk about ‘Worth’ this week.

What is Worth?

The points that you earn (or don’t for some of you) are translated to the divisional table, using your ‘Active Worth’ point tallies to rank you in your given division. The label of ‘worth’ came about when we were discussing how the Divisional Format would work and how we would utilise points in its running. With points being given for posting early and hitting voting link requirements, these things being something the league is only improved by happening and thus rewarded. So if people are racking up these extra bonus points, although doing it for their personal gain, they are also showing their ‘worth’ to the RSTL by way of activity and good looks.

The spreadsheet keeps track of ‘Accumulative Worth’ which although fluctuates along with the ‘Active’ version, it does not reset to 0 like the ‘Active Worth’ does. So this is the truer gauge of looking at who is proving to be most ‘valuable’ to the league by way of their input and enthusiasm. It takes effort to build up a high worth value in both sections. Some people will earn points even though their win:lose records are not so pretty, and I’m hoping you lot can see that this does not mean that the weaker writers can make it to champ matches just cos they post early and vote to the maximum every week.

No matter how many points you have, you need to win your division’s contender match and then the league contendership match before even reaching (never mind winning) the league championship match. So don’t go thinking that your ‘Worth’ is a golden ticket to success, but it most certainly will give you that extra edge in a drive for a title.

Now a look at some of the highest worth tallies:
Taken from - [INFO] RSTL Divisional Format Archives

Top 5 Accumulative Worth:
Got Life? @ 21pts ~ The self proclaimed IronMan of the RSTL shows how he lives and breathes the league which we are competing in. He’s taken almost every single bonus point on offer and although his record isn’t the prettiest at 3-3, he has won the match-ups that count most to take a shot at Atheist in this week’s Championship.
.:Pain:. @ 19pts ~ The Divisional Format’s first Champion stormed his way through the ranks and also sits a top the Win:Loss record table in the archives on 5-1. Has made use of some bonus points but his actual win ratio has been the backbone to his point tally.
Scatterboxx @ 19pts ~ Has took a huge dive in ‘Active Worth’ after last weeks poor showing in way of effort, but let us not forget who this is. Infinite Truth, one of the most respected writers the modern day RSTL has to offer. Needs to rebuild his worth, but will no doubt be heading to a Champ Gauge of his own sometime soon.
Atheist @ 18pts ~ Came out of the wilderness that is “people who left rm.com” and has taken the league by the scruff of the neck in a rampage that has lead to him being crowned as Champion for this week. If he beats Got Life? this week, by using the bonus point topic and posting early and all battles are open for him to vote in, he has the potential to take top spot in the archive for a while on 28pts.
Vern Acular @ 17pts ~ Has signed out for this week, so is likely to lose his place in the archive with a few people hot on his trail (myself included). Vern doesn’t take kindly to losing but I’m sure he’ll cool off and grace us with his presence again before long.

[Lucifa]

IV. Lucifa Breaks Down DF:WK6

Champ: Atheist vs Pain vs Vern Acular
A solid showing from all 3 competitors gave us a good 3-way match to read and critique. Pain, defending his title went out first with a huge verse based around religion. The verse was steady in pace and had some good content and thoughts incorporated in to it, with sound mechanics behind the writing. Atheist then followed with another lengthy verse but with a different vibe to the content. Atheist gave us a personal verse about an unfortunate event involving a sick toddler. Then we had Vern come in with the shorter read, using a short-line structure that we don’t usually see from him. The flow of his piece held together but the content just didn’t cut it against the other 2 in the end.
Result – Atheist wins

Cont: Got Life? vs nom de plume.
An interesting match-up of writing styles with Got Life? being the more generic writer whilst nom uses a more poetic approach to his verses. The clash of styles made for a good read and a pretty difficult choice when it came to voting. Got Life? had a story about a religious nut going out and murdering a palm reader, whilst nom’s verse was a little confusing as to what the actual storyline was. However, the poetics of nom’s writing made the content not as important in enjoying his verse as it was simply a pleasure to read, this was pitted against Got’s more conventional mechanics that were solid enough but not really inspiring.
Result – Got Life? wins

Cormier vs Scatterboxx
This “Blue Contenders” match-up held so much promise that it unfortunately failed to deliver. Scatter posted first with a less than competitive/complete verse, that although nicely written was just lacking in bulk of substance. Cormier then knew he didn’t have to push the boat out to take the win, but he did deliver a full verse with a rather interesting and slightly fresh plot. However, Cormier did fall in to the ‘idiot’s trap’ of using a topic submission instead of a topic on offer, but as there isn’t a specific ruling for this the verse stood. He also took his verse over to the rhyme play-offs and I wish him luck in that.
Result – Cormier wins

Lucifa vs Bonnie Bathory
The “Red Contenders” match-up was a repeat fixture of not too long ago, in which I couldn’t deliver a full verse and ‘handed’ the win to Bonnie. This week was different and I went ahead and wrote a 50+ verse, only to see Bonnie post first with 38 lines of content I wasn’t really feeling all that much. I chopped my verse down to match the 38 lines and felt confident it was enough to take the win.
Result – Lucifa wins

Atreyu vs BaySick
With Atreyu being a hit-n-miss kind of writer in my opinion and BaySick being a mostly miss writer, I wasn’t expecting a great deal from this match-up. The saving grace for me was the fact that 3-Planes was meant to be competing, unfortunately he’s having mental issues from both the RSTL and rhyme that has seen him spazzing out of late, and he no-showed. So the match went ahead with BaySick staying true to form and delivering an under-written piece that actually had a solid concept behind it. Whilst Atreyu dropped a weaker concept but surpassed his opponent in the writing stakes by too much of a margin to ignore when voting.
Result – Atreyu wins

Jimmy Eles vs oNeiRiC
What a surprise package this Jimmy Eles is turning out to be. I actually figured him for a bit of a joke sign up as an alias that would maybe show once and then disappear, however, he’s proven me wrong and this week he turned out a really nice and entertaining verse. His story was easy to follow even though it had twists and a fictional concept at it’s core, whilst the mechanics were of a good enough standard to make it a very competitive verse. This contrasted against oNe who gave a weaker showing with incoherent content behind some bland, but not too bad, writing mechanics.
Result – Jimmy wins

Chin Kwon vs Restproof
This turned out to be a really nice match-up of verses. I wasn’t surprised by how close this was in terms of quality, but I was a little surprised to see it go a whitewash result. Chin Kwon produced a topical approach verse to a quote about human stupidity that had both serious notes and some humorous touches, especially the vid on the end. Then we had Restproof’s verse which was produced as a storytelling verse, a story not really interesting in concept but proved to be a very entertaining read thanks to the style of writing and approach to tackling the subject matter.
Result – Restproof wins

Khoi NguJin vs MC-M16 vs Lotus
With the bullshit that went on in this match-up I didn’t bother voting on it. I don’t mind competitors using their 3 post regulation to make comment, but when they go over that and continue to squabble inside a match-up thread it just shows a lack of character and disregard for the league and its rules. All 3 showed though, which is more than I expected I guess.
Result – Khoi NguJin wins

[Lucifa]

V. Loose Cypher

OK. It was going to happen sooner or later, but we finally saw a multitude of no-show matches get closed down. We implemented the ‘Alternate’ system to combat the problem but unfortunately people are still refusing to type the word in their thread before posting a verse so that more threads were open.
However, there were still some good matches open for voting and an entertaining 3-way Championship took place.

Now on to my Top 5 of the week:

For DF:WK6

Top Match: [DF:WK6] CHAMPIONSHIP : .:Pain:. vs Vern Acular vs Atheist (Vote!)
There were 2 other matches that were very close to taking this ‘honour’, but the calibre of writers we had on show in this 3-way proved too much to not take the award. Although the 1>2>3 ranks were easily calculated at the end, votes were split as all 3 gave a good account of themselves in their attempts to have their name emblazoned on a Champ Gauge. The winner was Atheist but I give props to both Pain and Vern for their efforts.

Top Verse: Restproof : Link
I’m sure this choice won’t go down well with some, as this didn’t come from the Champ match and yadda yadda yadda. I don’t care. This is the verse that out of all that I read, stuck in my mind most as an entertaining block of text. The concept wasn’t original and wasn’t even all that interesting on paper, but the delivery of the verse made this stick out for me. Nicely written and lifted the idea by way of execution.

Top Voter: Jimmy Eles
There were a few of you that had a shout for this spot but if for nothing else, I have awarded it to Jimmy for raising his game when it comes to the quantity and quality of feedback he gave. Keep that shit up Jimmy, it’s appreciated by us mods as much as it is by the competitors that receive the critique.

Top Competitor: Got Life?
He may not have made good on his prediction of winning the first Champ Gauge but he’s making efforts to win one at least. Shows up week in and week out and gets a full quota of votes in, as well as his input for the magazine adding to his ‘work load’ within the RSTL.

Top Dog: Atheist
I don’t want the current champ to always take this spot, as it is a pretty obvious choice to make. However, I can’t deny this guy the top spot as Top Dog after he ploughed his way to a champ match and then had to take on 2 of our better writers to actually stake claim to the title himself. A job well done and I see him holding on to the title for a while.

[Lucifa]

VI. Information Central

News Item 1: Luc will be absent.

Basically just some filler but I’m using the mag to inform you all about this weekend/next week.

I’m on holiday/vacation this weekend and this could mean that the league will lag next week. Hopefully Quriosity will be on hand to close threads and all that business but I won’t be around until Monday night (earliest) to sort the ranks etc. I’m on UK time which is on average 5 hours ‘ahead’ of most of you, so if I can (have the energy) sit and sort the divisions when I get back, it will be Monday evening that you guys will see the Lounge thread and match-up threads.

The verse deadline will remain the same; as the topics should still be posted on the weekend (everybody get at Q to do that), however, the Early Bird will be extended to Wednesday noon EST.

It could be a case that I’m unable to sort the divisions until Tuesday morning UK time (the dead hours US) and in this instance I will extend the Early Bird until Wednesday midnight and push the deadline for verses until Friday midnight, but, there will be no extensions.

This could all have a knock-on effect for the mag too, which could be posted on the Wednesday of next week. I will however attempt to get it up on time if Q hasn’t taken it upon himself to do it.

News Item 2: Mod Spot Vacant.

Some of you may have noticed we have a moderator missing. TheReturn has had to leave us to take care of business at home since the passing of his grandma. This has left us short on ‘staff’ but we’ve done a good job (IMO) of disguising this. However, with Q back in school and my sporadic freetime right now, we are going to have to replace TheReturn sooner rather than later.

We do have a candidate in line for the role, however, Q has been slow to act on it and there are doubts on how much of a good idea it is to go with that candidate based on certain factors, one of which being a possible absence himself in the near future for an unknown amount of time.

So, if you think you could help this league remain the best topical text league on the net and can dedicate enough freetime to help Q and myself, and more importantly; be trustworthy, then let myself and Q know via PM of your interest and we can then see where we stand on our options.

[Lucifa]

VII. Divisional Ranks & Match-Ups

http://board.rapmusic.com/rapmusics-...gulations.html

This is how both divisions rank now:



DF:WK7 Match-Ups:


Atheist (Champ) vs Got Life?

Lucifa vs Cormier

1. Jimmy Eles vs 2. .:Pain:.
3. Bonnie Bathory vs 4. nom de plume.
5. TeKneeK vs 6. -Atreyu-
7. dizzy trip vs 8. Iright By Apple
9. oNeiRiC vs 10. BaySick


1. Scatterboxx vs 2. Eye-Rime
3. _KDP_ vs 5. Restproof
4. Khoi NguJin vs 6. Chin Kwon
7. T.a.C vs 8. Rem Lynxis vs 9. Lotus

[Lucifa]

VIII. Lucifa Predicts DF:WK7

Atheist vs Got Life?
Prediction – Atheist
There’s a chance that Got Life? could win this, as he’s a very competitive writer in the league, but I think that Atheist has come back to the RSTL with an appetite for writing. His verses so far in his charge to the top have been of a real high quality and I think that will see him retain the title.

Lucifa vs Cormier
Prediction – Cormier
It’s not that I don’t have confidence in my writing, but I think people may generally just like Corm’s writing more. He’s a solid competitor and has been using the verses he posts in the RSTL over in the rhyme league and is well on the way to winning their play-offs. Full of confidence and has momentum, whilst I’m strained as far as time goes this week.

Jimmy Eles vs .:Pain:.
Prediction - .:Pain:.
I think this is wide open if I’m honest, as Jimmy has been producing some pretty entertaining verses. Yet Pain has shown his competitive edge since the Divisional Format started and still has the best record in the league so far. This would suggest my prediction is safe, but he needs to not sleep on Jimmy.

Bonnie Bathory vs nom de plume.
Prediction – nom de plume.
A prediction for nom is never safe as his content can lack too much for his beautiful writing to hold up enough to gain votes against verses that are clear and concise. That is exactly what Bonnie is about and that could blow this wide open if she can deliver her verse with some flair.

TeKneeK vs Atreyu
Prediction – Atreyu
I’m tempted to predict a tie result as this is so hard to call given experience of their writing. TeK is a good writer but doesn’t deliver at any kind of consistency to give him a competitive edge in match-ups against the ‘average’ level writers. His experience should tell but I just feel that Atreyu has shown some potential that he might just carry through on this week.

dizzy trip vs Iright By Apple
Prediction – Iright By Apple
I have little to base a prediction on here beyond knowing that Iright competes in the rhyme league when he can be bothered. Maybe dizzy will prove to be a good writer from the depths of the unknown.

oNeiRiC vs BaySick
Prediction – oNeiRiC
Match Of The Week material this is not. Neither gave any sign of being rank climbers and this will be one of few chances (on evidence) for either to claim a win. I see oNeiRiC taking it due to BaySick’s shortcomings.

Scatterboxx vs Eye-Rime
Prediction – Eye-Rime
Now this does have the potential to be MOTW. To solid competitors of the RSTL going at it with one eye on the Contendership next week. Motivation will be key for either to take the win, but my instinct tells me Eye will sneak this by a vote a 2.

_KDP_ vs Restproof
Prediction – Restproof
This is a switch-up match after noticing (late) that Rest had battled Chin Kwon last week, and as such Rest requested a different opponent. KDP has shown he can write good verses that are competitive but has since thrown a big pussy fit and then no-showed last week. Rest gave a good account last week and I see that being carried over.

Khoi NguJin vs Chin Kwon
Prediction – Chin Kwon
Possible sleeper hit match of the week. Chin is a very capable writer and I do see him taking this show-down, but Khoi is coming in on the back of a 3-way victory and seems to want to prove to be a serious competitor within the RSTL. We shall see.

T.a.C vs Rem Lynxis vs Lotus
Prediction – Lotus
I know nothing about Rem Lynxis, but considering who gave me the vouch for him/her I’m hoping we have another solid writer to contend with in the league. Since I don’t know the quality of writing on offer from Rem, I fall back on T.a.C vs Lotus to make my prediction. With that said, I think Lotus is the better writer of the 2 and should hold his own in this match.

[Lucifa]

IX. Mod Balls

Broken Record Sydrome much?

Voting

It’s good to see most people are now meeting the 2 line minimum per competitor requirement when giving their feedback/votes. There were still some votes that were discounted due to not meeting this requirement though. It really isn’t too much to ask of you, so sort it out!

Now .. on to other voting matters.

Now that the Contendership and Championship matches are in full swing and happening every week from now on, it is important to point out that these have been MANDATORY votes for a long time now. This isn’t something new to the Divisional Format, but the points system is. As such you are now risking your point tally by refusing to abide by the league’s requirements and expectations of its competitors.
You need to post 5 valid voting links to obtain 1 point. However, if these 5 links are short of a Champ and/or Contender (League, not Divisional) then you will be deducted 1 point for each one missing.
Now, if you don’t post any links at all, that’s -1pt straight away, but you will also lose an additional 2 points for the Cont/Champ being (obviously) missing.
So you NEED to vote on the Contendership AND Championship matches. If you were to vote on these 2 match-ups alone, that is 0pts, as 1-4 voting links is 0pts.

The sticky thread has been up since the Seasonal Format, so there can be no excuses of blindness to the fact that it is there. But here’s the link for some of you ‘tards:

http://board.rapmusic.com/rapmusics-...ing-links.html

This is to be used when you are no-showed against, without alternating, and thus your thread is closed.

The thread can also be used by fresh sign-ups that have been added to the first post of the [SIGN UPS] thread of that week to post voting links that can earn them a point or 2 ready for when they begin competing the following week.

It’s all common sense guys!

[Lucifa]

X. .:Pain:.’s …. Of The Week

Honey Of The Week
Raven Riley










Music Video Of The Week
Big L – Put It On




Random Video Of The Week
Joch Cinnamon Victims




Joke Of The Week

3 Winning Smart Ass Answers For 2006

Smart Ass Answer #3: The cop got out of his car and the kid who was stopped for speeding rolled down his window. "I've been waiting here all day," the cop said. The kid replied, "Yeah, well I got here as fast as I could." When the cop finally stopped laughing, he sent the kid on his way without a ticket.

Smart Ass Answer #2: A truck driver was driving along on the freeway. A sign comes up that reads, "Low Bridge Ahead." Before he knows it, the bridge is right ahead of him and he gets stuck under the bridge. Cars are backed up for miles Finally, a police car comes up. The cop gets out of his car and walks to the truck driver, puts his hands on his hips and says, "Got stuck, huh?" The truck driver says, "No, I was delivering this bridge and ran out of gas."

#1 SMART ASS ANSWER OF THE YEAR 2006.................... A college teacher reminds her class of tomorrow's final exam. "Now class, I won't tolerate any excuses for you not being here tomorrow. I might consider a nuclear attack or a serious personal injury or illness, or a death in your immediate family, but that's it, no other excuses whatsoever!" A smart ass guy in the back of the room raised his hand and asked, "What would you say if tomorrow I said I was suffering from complete and utter sexual exhaustion?" The entire class is reduced to laughter and snickering. When silence was restored, the teacher smiled knowingly at the student, shaking her head and sweetly said "Well, I guess you'd have to write the exam with your other hand."

Boom!

[Lucifa]

XI. Competitor Profile

Possibly Coming Soon?

[Lucifa]

XI. Competitor Profile

Possibly Continued Soon?

[Lucifa]

XII. Outroduction

Sorry for the lack of a competitor profile this week, but that's on you guys. Messages were sent to various people and nothing has come back in time to get something in this week. I will send out a fresh batch of PMs to see if we can get the archive thread stock-piled so I don't have to rely on timing, as I can just go and take one from there to present in the mags when needed. If one comes in early enough it will be edited in to this issue.

That's that.

Good luck this week folks.

If anyone would like to submit material to the mag then feel free to contact me:
AIM = Lokoveli
MSN = lokinontoyou@hotmail.co.uk
Email = lokoproductions@hotmail.co.uk
Or simply PM via RM.com

[nom de plume.]

get on msn you bastard.

p.s. good mag.
huzzah.